The gap between the aspirations of T the working clash Brain an e
policies and actions of New Labour has opened up to new and graphically shown both in the contents of the Queen's Speech and in the response of Blair and New Labour to the firefightBlair is aware that key trade union battles can determine the balance of forces between governments and unions for long periods of time. This was the case with the defeat of the miners in 1984/5. The powerful and radicalising industrial militancy, which had developed during the 1970s, was brought to a halt by a strategic confrontation with the miners, planned in advance by the Thatcher government. It was a defining moment, which opened the way for the introduction of the anti-union laws and resulted in a huge decline in trade union
Today, we don't have industrial conflict on the scale of the 1970s. But we do have a trade union movement that is beginning to recover from the defeats of the 1980s. Confidence is returning and the number of strikes is rising. In union elections workers have been voting for the most militant canConsequently, a new generation of nonBlairite general secretaries have come on to the scene in a number of unions. They reject the social partnership consensus that has pervaded and paralysed the trade union movement for more than 15 years and have begun to shake up the movement.
Rather than seeking accommodation must be defeated to intimidate other public sector workers with the employers, these new leaders are seeking ways of supporting their members and giving solidarity to other workers in struggle. They back the anti-globalisation protesters and oppose the war drive of Bush and Blair. Most of them are looking for a political alternative to Blairism. It is hard to over-estimate the importance of this devel opment and the effects it can have in rebuilding the trade union movement. The significance of this is not lost on the Blairites
The FBU dispute reflects these develop ments. The firefighters are one of the bestorganised sections of the trade union move ment and embody the new confidence that is abroad. Blair sees the strike as a strategic battle that he has to win; the workers' movement will have to do the same. This makes the firefighters a defining moment for the whole trade union movement.
To Blair, the firefighters are his enemy within. He has said that no government could give way to the demand the FBU is making because the result would be follow up claims from other workers in the public sector. The firefighters are therefore to be defeated in order to intimidate other public sector workers from pursuing their own wage demands.
This is why the government intervened to stop the deal offered by the Fire Brigade employers. That is why they are putting up draconian demands for so-called modernisation, which will mean massive job losses The aim now is not just to defeat the firefighters, but to hang them out to dry as an example. That is why a press campaign to vilify the firefighters on public safety is taking place in the media.
And from his point of view, Blair is right. There is a queue of wage claims in the public sector that will be affected by the outcome of the FBU dispute.
This is why the whole movement must rally behind the strike. The decision of the FBU to call the demonstration on 7 December was absolutely right, and the decision of the TUC to back it means that it can be built into the biggest trade union demonstration for many years.
New Labour's new lurch to the right is reflected just as clearly in social policy in the Queen's Speech. It is hard to envisage a set of measures so tailored to the requirements of big business, even in the records of previous Tory governments.
Be are to have Foundation W
Hospitals - something which even Margaret Thatcher rejected in the 1980s. There will be more media deregulation, opening up new opportunities for the likes of Rupert Murdoch.
We are presented with another law and order bill - the seventeenth since new Labour came to office. This ends the double jeopardy rule and ends restrictions on the release of previous convictions until after the verdict.
Immediately following the Queen's Speech, ministers announced a series of other reactionary measures, including the The aim is not just to defeat but to hang them out to dry as an example. outrageous top-up tuition fees, which were ruled out of the last Labour manifesto, the controversial Mental Health Bill - and now even plans to scrap the 'exceptional right to remain for asylum seekers.
On the war drive, Blair is so far to the right that the Tories have nothing to say. The Tories agree with him on the firefighters' strike -and just quibble about the details. Blair has not only stolen their clothes but has made them look better on him and produced his own more effective style.
Politically, the response of New Labour to the firefighters marks a new stage in its offensive against the unions and its willing. ness to act directly on behalf of the employers. This has implications for the relationship between the unions and New Labour and gives a new urgency to the campaign around the political fund. Already many firefighters are calling for the union to disaffiliate from New Labour, which reopens the debate on the democratisation of the politi cal fund. A new round of resignations from the Labour Party is likely to take place
It also gives new urgency to the fight to build the Socialist Alliance as a socialist alternative to New Labour, since disaffiliation without an alternative can lead to depolitici sation. New opportunities are opening up for the Alliance to build itself into a serious alternative. If the Socialist Alliance did not exist before this we would have to invent it
page 4 of the scan
Firefighters: lessons from history ce Winter 2002 B Flame HANDS We have a great advantage now